A £30 million cut in the amount of Lottery funding for charities would be devastating and may force the Scottish Government to reduce spending on sports and the arts, according to a charities leader.

Martin Sime, chief executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations said the sector is concerned about warnings the share of lottery cash going to the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland is set to be slashed.

Despite the UK Government refusing to confirm the move, Mr Sime said: "It is certainly true that this cut is being proposed. It is a desperate idea which puts Scottish ministers in an impossible position."

It emerged last week the Department for Culture, Media and Sport at Westminster is proposing to reduce the money bound for the Fund from 40 per cent to 25 per cent, so that more can be directed to fund the arts and sport.

However the cut proposed north of the Border would leave the Big Lottery In Scotland virtually unable to fund new work, with existing commitments swallowing up almost all its remaining funds.

It is understood Big Scotland's planned announcement next week of new funding programmes for 2016 has been postponed.

Mr Sime has written to Scottish Secretary David Mundell describing the plans as disrespectful and calling for a rethink. A letter has also gone to Holyrood Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil, calling for the Scottish Government to lobby against the move.

In his letter to Mr Mundell, Mr Sime said the proposal was 'extremely bad', and 'perverse' at a time when demand for support from charities had never been so severe, due to government austerity.

He added: "UK Ministers should resist the temptation to adjust lottery spending to accommodate pressure on public expenditure. Lottery funding is meant to be additional and any changes which undermine this principle could have a negative impact on public attitudes to the Lottery."

Mr Sime said the plan was disrespectful to the Scottish Government, which has not been consulted.

With no similar plans to cut funding for arts and sport at present north of the Border, they could end up with considerably more money in Scotland while a vital stream of funding for charities is choked off.

"We are not opposed to giving lottery funding to the arts and sports, but to use it to justify a cut in expenditure is absolutely out of order. What is Alex Neil to do, is he supposed to cut statutory funding for arts and sports and then put into back into causes the Big Lottery Fund would have supported?

"This money enables so much more to happen. It creates community assets and mobilises volunteers. Without it Scotland will be immeasurably poorer and the quality of life will be affected." he added.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “If these reports turn out to be true it would be devastating to the immensely valuable work of the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland. The Lottery programmes make a vital contribution to the well-being of so many people and communities.

“Any cuts to the Big Lottery funding would have serious implications for communities across Scotland and would be unacceptable.

“If serious consideration is being given to cutting the Big Lottery budget, this has not been discussed with Scottish Ministers. The UK Government should be doing everything it can to protect BLF funding not looking to cut it.”